Warracknabeal
| latd =36 |latm =15 |lats =0 | longd =142 |longm =25 |longs =0 | maxtemp = 22.2 | mintemp = 8.6 | rainfall = 397.4 | stategov = Lowan | fedgov = Mallee | dist1 = 359 | dir1 = NW | location1= Melbourne | dist2 = 58 | dir2 = N | location2= Horsham | dist3 = 60 | dir3 = W | location3= Donald }} Warracknabeal is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee districts, and hosts local government offices of the Shire of Yarriambiack. At the 2011 census Warracknabeal district had a population of 2,745, of which 2,340 lived in the urban town centre. History The original inhabitants of the area around Warracknabeal were the Wotjobaluk tribe of Aboriginal people. The town's name is believed to derive from an aboriginal expression meaning "place of big gums shading the water hole". The earliest European settlers in the area included Andrew and Robert Scott, who established the first run of the name.Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Australian Places, 1993. The Post Office opened on 1 September 1861 and was known as W'e'''rrackn'e'beal until 1885. Amongst the historical buildings are an 1872 prison cell built from red and yellow gum, a Tudor-style post office, several 19th century hotels and pubs, and a four storey water tower from 1886. There is also an agricultural machinery museum housing pieces from the history of farming in the Mallee and Wimmera districts. Localities The Warracknabeal bounded locality includes the rural neighbourhoods of Batchica (whose post office opened as ''Yellanghip South in 1908, was renamed Batchica in 1909 and closed in 1931), Challambra (whose post office opened as Challamba Dam (sic) around 1902, was renamed Challamba in 1905 and closed in 1918) and Mellis (whose post office opened around 1907 and closed in 1954). Healthcare The town is serviced by four doctors and one pharmacy. Hospital services are provided by Rural Northwest Health. Schools The town has four schools: Warracknabeal Secondary College, Warracknabeal Primary School, St Mary's Catholic Primary School and Warracknabeal Special Developmental School. Sport The town has an Australian rules football team (Warrack Eagles) competing in the Wimmera Football League. Warrack Eagles Netball Club competes strongly in the Wimmera Netball Association. The town also has a Yarriambiack Tennis Ascioaction. The towns teams consist of Bangerang, Cannum and Ailsa. Other teams in the league are Hopetoun, Beulah, Brim, Lah, Galical. The horse racing club, the Wimmera Racing Club, schedules around six race meetings a year at Warracknabeal including the Warracknabeal Cup meeting in February. It also has the Sheep Hills Race Club, which schedules two race meetings a year, including the Sheep Hills Cup meeting in February. Golfers play at the course of the Warracknabeal Golf Club. Warracknabeal also has a Cricket team (St Marys Cricket Club) who have just recently gone back to back in the Wimmera Mallee Cricket Association. Warracknabeal has 3 hockey teams, a senior men's team (Hoops) a women's team, and a mixed junior team (Revengers) who were winners of the 2011 premiership. Easter Y-Fest YFest incorporates an Easter Saturday Street Parade, a 3 Day Vintage Machinery Rally at Wheatlands Museum, 4 Day Golf Tournament, 3 day Art Show, Easter Saturday Race Meeting and Waterski Spectacular. The town of 2400 people swells with many visitors, friends and family and offers many family and rich community events every year. The Easter Y-Fest is in its twenty-fifth year (2013) and continues to grow stronger as the individual events that make up Y-Fest, benefit from the joint marketing efforts of the Y-Fest Promotions Committee Inc. This Committee, made up of representatives from each of the individual event committees and Council, was formed as a marketing group to promote the Y-Fest concept and has been successful in boosting attendances at all venues. Notable people *Nick Cave (1957–), musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, composer and actor *Marc Ribot (1955-), Musician See also * Warracknabeal Airport References External links * Warracknabeal Herald * Warracknabeal Secondary College * Warracknabeal's Easter Y-Fest Website Category:Towns in Victoria (Australia) Category:Wimmera